(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tarps (tarpaulins), and more particularly to covering a stack of agricultural produce such as a cotton module with a tarp.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Before this invention, it was known that it was desirable to cover a stack of agricultural produce with a tarp.
HUSKY U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,049 and HENSLEY et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,200 discloses tarps over cotton modules. CONAGHAN U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,085 discloses a tarp over a haystack.
Before my invention, the only method disclosed to place the tarp over the stack of agricultural product was to manually unroll the tarp by a workman on top of the stack. For example, see FIG. 2 of the HUSKY patent.
Before my invention, there was a problem of tying down the edges of the tarp. HUSKY disclosed building a module upon a pallet and therefore, the tarp was tied down to the edges of the pallet. CONAGHAN disclosed holding the tarp down by tying it into the hay material. HENSLEY et al., discloses tying the tarp down by using a special spike inserted into the cotton module.
OCHIAI U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,085 discloses a tarp for covering a stack of lumber. This tarpaulin has a center waterproof section, and a side panel of air permeable material so that the top of the stack of lumber is kept dry, but the sides are permeable to air for the purposes of ventilation.
Before this application was filed, applicant caused a search to be made in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In addition to the above identified patents, the searcher also reported TISMA U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,622 and WINTER U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,850 which do not seem pertinent to the applicant. However, the applicant wishes to call them to the attention of the Examiner, inasmuch as he believes the Examiner would be interested in them inasmuch as they were reported by an experienced searcher.